North Winds
by Chi-Blocker
Summary: Hey, there. I'm Espin, son of Boreas. Never heard of him? Join the club. This here story is what happens when you put a socially illiterate boy, several teenagers, and a bunch of monsters together. Oh, joy. Rated T for language and mature themes.
1. Introduction

**Ok, so this is the prologue for North Winds. Yay!**

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Greetings from Camp Hell Blood. Whoops. I mean Camp _Half _Blood. But then again, aren't they the same thing?

Anyways, I'm Espin. Espin Farlow. Ya, ya. Go ahead and laugh at my last name. I know that's it's pretty idiotic, but hey, I didn't pick it. I would've picked something like Johnson or Williams. Something nice and normal. But I guess Farlow is a good last name for me, since I'm not exactly the most normal person in the world, considering my dad is the god of never-been-heard-of. Whoops. My tongue slipped again. I "meant" to say that he's the god of north winds and winter and crap like that.

Ya, I know. North winds? Winter? North Pole? I must be the son of Santa Clause and all that junk! Wrong. His name is Boreas. I know. Another ridiculous name. My family is just full of 'em.

So, I guess there are a _few _pros to being the son of a Santa-wannabe. For one thing, I never get cold. Never. Another thing is that I have cool hair. It's white. My eyes are kind of cool, too. They look like lumps of ice that somebody surgically implanted into my skull. Oooh. Fun mental-image there, huh?

But for _all _of those pros, there are cons. I practically melt in the heat, my skin is almost white, I can't run to save my life, and girls hate me. It's pretty sad. I'm fourteen and I've never ever held a girl's freaking hand. Why does my life have to be so hard?

Well, since you know soo much about me, I'll tell you my tale. Or story. Or whatever you wanna call it.

* * *

**Yay! A new story!! I lost my inspiration for Cali II, so I decided to start something new! Don't worry though; I'll most likely pick up Cali II again. Maybe in the summer. Oh, that's right! I'm no longer home-schooled! I went back to real school, and I'm loving it! I still love all them awesome home-schoolers, though.**

**Review please! Constructive criticism is loved.**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rick Riordan does.**

**Chapter 1**

"Espin, you lazy creature!" a voice screamed from behind my bedroom door, "Move it or lose it!"

"Leave me alone! I'm trying to sleep!" I screamed back. I herd a low growling from the person behind my door. Ooh. I'm so scared.

"Since Chiron couldn't get your lazy butt out of bed, I have to. And I have _ways _of making of people do things," he said in a low voice. I paused before speaking again.

"You started your sentence with 'and.' Don't you know how to use proper grammar?" I said sarcastically. The person screamed in agitation.

"Fine! I didn't want to do this, but desperate times cause for desperate measures," the person said. I snorted to show that I didn't care.

I was about to go back to sleep, when white-hot pain exploded in my head. "Damn!" I screamed as I fell to the ground. I heard the door open and saw Mr. D loomed over me.

"Ah. I'm glad to see that you're awake, Espin," he said smugly as I clutched my head in pain.

"Go... to... Tartarus," I grunted out between flashes of pain.

"Silly boy. I cannot possibly go to Tartarus, seeing that I am immortal. Now get dressed," Mr. D sneered. He snapped his fingers and the pain in my skull vanished. I slowly got up and walked over to my dresser. "Good. If you don't come down to breakfast I will do terrible, unspeakable things to your mental heath."

"I get it. You can go now, ok?" I said, clearly ticked off. Mr. D muttered something and left. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a pair of dark jeans and a gray shirt and then changed out of my pajamas. I grabbed my baseball cap, slipped it on, and then headed out the door.

* * *

"Damn," I muttered, "All the waffles are gone." What was breakfast without waffles? It _wasn't _breakfast, that's for sure. So I ended up not eating anything. That must be why I'm so skinny. I never eat a freaking thing.

Anyways, I walked over to a small, rickety old table that looked like a hell hound had used it for a toy. I wouldn't be surprised, considering that Mr. D gave it to me. Since my dad is a minor god, I don't have my own cabin or picnic table. Woo-hoo. Lucky me. I get to live in the Big House with a bunch of boring old people and a mummy.

I groaned and banged my head on my 'table.' I hate my life. I really, truly do. I heard a few kids snicker at me, but I didn't care. I was used to it, after all.

After a couple more minutes of sulking, I grudgingly picked myself up from the table and headed over to the beach. I liked the beach. It was a relaxing place. I wish I was a son of Poseidon. That would be nice. Be able to breath underwater and surf like crazy. Yaaaa...

But I'm not a son of Poseidon. So there is no use dreaming about. Hey, we don't choose our parents, am I right?

So anyways, I sat down on the warm sand and put my head on my knees and let a long sigh. I heard a giggle behind me and turned around. "What?" I snapped, whirling around. A few blonde Aphrodite girls, along with their amazingly ripped Ares boyfriends, were jeering at me. Their bubblegum pink lips flapped rapidly as they whispered things to each other.

"Yo, Santa!" an Ares guy called out. Ah, yes. Santa. One of my overly abundant nicknames.

The burly guy stared back at what I assumed to be his girlfriend, and smirked. She squealed with delight and so did her other little clones. "Wow. I applaud you for your juvenile attempt at one of your so called 'insults,'" I said in a bored tone. The guy looked at me with an incredulous expression. I doubt that he had understood anything that I had just said.

"Ya... well... You're a loser!" he said triumphantly, puffing out his muscle-y chest. I rolled my blue eyes, clearly ticked off with this guy's complete and utter lack of brain cells. If people spoke with word bubbles, this guy would misspell every word in his statement. Including 'ya.'

What an idiot. I don't understand how people make fun of him and not of me. Oh, wait. Yes I do. He had muscles the size of a watermelon. I had muscles about the size of... nothing.

"Alright. I'm a spineless loser. Can we _please _just get on with our lives?" I asked, brushing my white hair out of my face. The guy snorted, but nevertheless, walked away with the gaggle of girls at his heels.

I let out a sigh and fell down onto the sand. This was pretty much routine for me. I had learned to tolerate it after awhile. It would be easier if I had, say, a friend or something.

Oh my gods. I sound so pitiful.

I could make friends if I wanted to! Ya. Sure I could. You just have to talk to them. Right? It couldn't be that hard.

Filled with new resolution, I picked myself up from the sand, brushed it off, and started for the sword arena. People liked to go there, right? I don't understand why anybody would want to fight with some weird bronze pointy thing. It doesn't make any sense to me.

Maybe that's why I don't have any friends.

Anyway, I entered the arena, only to receive icy glances from the campers that were training. I waved warmly. At least, I hope it looked warm. I even threw in a smile! It probably looked like I was eating lemons or something, though.

"What are _you _doing here, Ice Cube?" a Hermes kid sneered, crossing his muscular arms across his chest. I felt like melting into the ground, just to get away from his menacing scowl.

I mustered up all my courage and turned it into a smile. "I just felt like watching everybody fight with those bronze death traps," I said. Hm. That was a poor choice of words.

"Bronze death traps, eh? Well, then. Maybe I should turn you into shish-ka-bobs, then. How would you like that?" he growled. I shrunk back into my shoulders and gulped.

"Heh. Th-that's not necessary. I'll just leave," I muttered in a small voice. The Hermes kid squinted his eyes and nodded.

"Good choice, Santa," he said, turning back to the straw dummy. The last thing I saw before leaving the arena was the head being lopped off the poor straw thing.

I practically _ran _out of the place.

* * *

Well, that idea was bunk. I tried the archery range and the volleyball court, only to be faced with some sort of mean-looking guy telling me to get the Hades out.

Currently, I was brooding about in the forest, just feeling sorry for myself.

Really. It was _not _fair. Why did I have to be stuck with some lame god of nothing important? What did _I _ever do? Well, except swear a lot and steal things and...

Hm. Maybe I did deserve to be son of the god of nothing.

But I still was going feel sorry for myself. That's another thing that's sort of routine for me.

I thrust my hands into my white hair and let out a loud string of swear words. I won't repeat them, though. Chiron would probably wash my mouth out if he had heard me.

Anyway, as I was reaching the end of my tirade, I spotted a flash of black darting through the trees. I looked around, eyes wild. What if it was a hellhound, or something? Or some weird thing from the Underworld? What if it was here to get _me_?!

I bolted out of that forest so fast, if you had been watching me, I would have looked like a white blur.

* * *

"Chiron!" I yelled as I pushed open the door of the Big House. My eyes darted around, trying to find him. I spotted him by the fire with Mr. D and... a girl.

Oh, gods.

"Yes, Espin? What is it?" he said curiously. He raised an eyebrow at me when my mouth fell open and closed several times.

The girl... Wow. She had short blonde hair and huge brown eyes and freckles and... I felt like vomiting.

She was looking at me. At _me_! She must be new. Otherwise, she would be sneering and rolling her eyes at my sudden out burst.

"For gods sake, boy! What is it?" Mr. D yelled, interrupting my thoughts. I shook my head and shut my eyes tight.

"Th-there was something in the forest. The North Woods. I didn't get a good look at it, though. It was just a blur of black racing through the trees. Wh-what if it was some sort of monster, or something? What if it was there to get _me_!" I said, pointing at my face. My blue eyes were wide with worry. The girl stared at Chiron, who stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Hm. I'm sure that it was nothing to worry about," he replied. I could tell that his words were hollow and full of doubt, though. He exchanged quick glances with Mr. D. "But just in case, Mr. D and I will check it out," he added, nodded his head towards the door. Mr. D shuffled out, followed by Chiron. "Oh! Espin! This is Rikki. She's new. Can you take her to the Hermes cabin, please?"

My whole body stiffened, but I nodded. Gods! Why did I nod? Idiot, idiot, idiot!

"Hi. I'm Rikki. It's nice to meet you, Espin," she said warmly when Mr. D and Chiron had left. She stuck out her hand and stared at me with expecting eyes.

My stomach was doing flips and somersaults. I shot her a lopsided smile and shook her hand briefly.

It was warm. My hand was cold, like ice. Were most people's hands warm? Probably. So warm... And soft.

"Nice to meet you, Rikki. Have you been, uh, claimed yet?" I asked nervously, my eyes looking at anything _but _her.

She shook her head, blonde locks flying around her face. "No. I haven't. Have you?" she asked with a brilliantly white smile.

"N-no. I mean, yes!" I answered stupidly. She raised an eyebrow. "Ya. I've been claimed. B-by Boreas," I said, starring at the floor.

"Oh! Boreas. I've heard of him. He's the minor god of the North winds and winter, correct?" she said, cocking her head at me. My mouth fell ajar slightly. She was the _first _person who knew that. Well, besides Chiron.

I nodded slowly. "Ya... he his." A small grin spread across my face. For the first time, I looked into her eyes. They had little flecks of gold in them. "Oh! The Hermes cabin. Follow me," I said, snapping back into it.

Rikki nodded and followed me out the door of the Big House.

* * *

"Well, here we are," I said, ushering her to the cabin. She smiled at me.

"Thanks, Espin! Do you think that maybe you could give me a tour of the camp tomorrow?" Rikki asked. I stared at her with a stupid grin on my face and nodded. She smiled wider. "Awesome! Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then," she said stepping up the steps of the cabin.

I waved at her one last time before she went inside. She waved back and mouthed, "Thank you." I shrugged as she disappeared into the cabin.

I stood there for several minutes afterwards, just smiling like an idiot.

Rikki was a girl. And she want _me _to give her a tour of the camp. _Me_!

Eventually, I started back for the Big House, a huge grin still plastered to my face.

* * *

**Whoo! I finally got the first chapter up. And it doesn't totally suck!**

**Read and review, please. I only like to write when I get reviews. It makes me feel special.**

**Seriously, people.**

**-Chi-Blocker**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Rick Riordan does.**

Chapter 2

The next morning, I was so eager to give Rikki that tour that I actually woke up on time. It was certainly a miracle of some sorts. Maybe Rikki did that to me.

"Espin! Wake up, you oaf!" Mr. D shouted from behind my door. I placed my baseball cap on my head and pushed open the door, to Mr. D's surprise. "You... On time?" he asked, taking an unusually large bite of the doughnut that was in his chubby hand. A series of crumbs fell onto his obscenely large belly.

My lips curled into a sneer. "I woke up on time, get it? Now get lost. I need breakfast," I muttered, racing past him. I heard him shout something, but I didn't catch it. I ran the whole way to the Mess Hall, which was pretty unusual for me. When I arrived, there were, of course, no waffles in sight, so I ended up eating nothing again. Well, whatever. I was too excited to even think about eating.

My eyes scanned the Mess, landing on the Hermes table. I spotted a small blonde head squished in between two very large, and very ugly, campers. I felt a twinge of pity for Rikki. I really, really, really wanted to go and talk to her, but that would result in a catastrophe of epic proportions. Those two huge campers on either side of her would probably make fun of me and Rikki would find out that I'm some weird and lame loser. And I did not want that to happen. So instead, I shuffled over to my rickety old dog toy/picnic table and sat down, placing my chin on my hands. A long sigh escaped my mouth and several campers snickered. I rolled my eyes.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Rikki got up from the Hermes table and walk out of the Mess Hall. After several moments, I sprang up and raced out. "Rikki!" I called out. Unfortunately, she was right outside the Mess and I, having run like a maniac, crashed into her at top speed. The breath was nearly knocked out of my lungs.

"Espin!" she said, voice filled with concern. "Are you alright?"

I took deep gulps of air, trying to fill my lungs. She placed a hand on my shoulder and my brain went into complete and utter chaos. I couldn't think, breath, or function properly. I think about a billion new nerve endings formed at the spot were she touched me.

I nodded. "Y-ya," I croaked out. She removed her hand from my shoulder.

"Well, okay. If you say so," she said, still looking at me with concern.

My cheeks burned and I bit the inside of my cheek. "Ya. I say so," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck sheepishly. An uncomfortable silence proceeded. After about what I presumed to be thirty seconds, we both opened our mouths at the same time.

Rikki smiled. "Sorry. You go first."

"Alright... I was just going to say that we should get on with the tour. That's what you wanted, am I right?" I said, staring at my hands. Lame, lame, lame. I'm a loser. She probably wa-

"Okay! Let's go!" Rikki exclaimed, wiping away the lingering remnants of my doubt. Maybe she didn't hate me. Maybe she wasn't just being nice. Maybe... Maybe I should get on with the tour.

I smiled and started in the direction of the sword arena. "First, I'm going to take you to the sword arena. You'll probably be spending a lot of time there if your..." I paused.

"My dad. My Olympian parent will be my dad," she told me.

I nodded and continued. "Okay. So if your dad is, say, Ares or Hermes, you'll probably be spending a lot of time there," I said, attempting to walk fast.

Rikki nodded. "What about you? Are you good with swords?" she asked curiously. I nearly broke down laughing and crying, right at the same time. She actually thought that I might be cool enough to be a sword junkie, or something.

"No. No I'm not," I said, trying not to choke on my laughter. Rikki nodded and kept walking.

Finally, we got there. Almost nobody was there, thank the gods. I guess they were still at breakfast, stuffing their fat faces.

Rikki peered inside. "Hm. I don't think that I'll be any good with swords. I can just tell," she said, placing her hands on her hips.

I nodded. "I felt like that, too," I said lamely, rubbing the back of my neck. Gods, I was so socially inept. I felt like punching my own face in.

Rikki nodded, shifting her weight from foot to foot. "So... Can we go to the archery range? Maybe I'll like it better there." I could tell she was feeling a bit uncomfortable around my awkwardness, so I nodded, turning on my heal and thanking the gods that we could get the Hades out of the wretched place.

* * *

"Well... Here we are," I said sheepishly, gazing around at the range. It was empty, except for a lone girl in the corner.

Rikki flashed a brilliantly white smile at me. "I like it here." I shrugged nonchalantly, although I felt a bit jealous. When I had first come to camp, I never felt a 'connection' to anything. Nothing. Pathetic, I know.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rikki bound off to chat with the girl in the far corner of the range. Squinting a bit, I recognized the girl. "Rosie Valachi, daughter of Hermes," I murmured to myself.

"Espin! Hi, doll!" Rosie shouted loudly, waving her arms around in the air.

Now, you're probably thinking that this is weird. I am, after all, a total loser that nobody wants to associate with. But you see, Rosie treats everybody like that. Her bubbly demeanor is pretty annoying, but she's not too bad.

"Hey," I mumbled, lifting a hand to wave at her. I saw her say something quietly to Rikki, and they both exploded into peals of giggles. "Damn," I whispered under my breath. She was probably telling Rikki some horrible thing about me.

Rikki looked over at me and smiled. "Espin! Come over here!" I sighed, proceeding to shuffle to where she was standing with Rosie.

"Espin!" Rosie said, heavy New York accent making my name sound weird. Rosie is a New Yorker all the way. Her place in the Hermes cabin is decked out in Yankee memorabilia, and she is constantly chatting about frivolous things like hot dogs and Central Park.

I smiled sheepishly. "Hi, Rosie." This conversation was obviously going nowhere fast.

After a few awkward seconds of silence, Rikki piped up. "So, Rosie. Whose your parent?"

"Hermes!" Rosie answered, almost instantly. Rikki smiled, and started to chat merrily with Rosie about the Hermes cabin.

Exciting, I know.

As they chitchatted, my mind, and eyes, for that matter, drifted around, not really finding anything of interest.

Well, damn. What was I going to do now? My fifteen minutes of Rikki-time was over. She was probably going to think Rosie was so fun, or something. How do girls compliment other girls? By saying that they're pretty?

Who the Styx knew, anyway? Other males were just plain strange to me. _Females _were an altogether different species.

I guess I could always go loiter around the cabins for a while… That's what I usually did. And old habits die hard, right?

"Rikki? I'm going to head out, okay?" I said. I think that I interrupted the two of them, but I'm not sure. I wasn't paying attention to their conversation, anyway.

Rikki looked at me, cocking her head to the side. I had to bite my lip from grinning at her sheer cuteness. "What? Well, okay…" she said, sounding uncertain. Her voice made me want to stay with her, but I knew that I'd most likely be bored to tears.

"Ya, well, I'll see ya around," I muttered, giving them a small wave before turning on my heels. I practically ran out of the place.

* * *

As I arrived in the vicinity of the cabins, the glares started. You know. Those I-Can-Not-Stand-You-Why-The-Hell-Are-You-Here-You-Social-Outcast-You glares that kids are so good at giving.

What? You don't get those glares? Lucky son of a bitch.

"Espin!" a voice yelled. Well, that was new. Maybe it was some kid wanting to beat me up. But it couldn't be. The voice obviously belonged to a female.

I turned around, preparing for death, when a girl crashed into me at top speed. I fell backwards; she fell forwards.

You can guess what was the ending position.

Yup. You got it. She was on top of me, and I was unfortunately pinned underneath. The classic 'sexy fall' position, as I like to call it.

I blushed as red as a tomato, but the girl jumped right back up, obviously not embarrassed.

As I stood up, brushing myself off, I squinted at the girl's face.

And then I recognized her.

Oh. Oh no. This wasn't good. Not at all.

Sasha Vandenburg, daughter of Aphrodite. The rebellious one.

And look. She was even wearing her trademark 'Down With Twilight!" shirt.

Great.

"Um… hi, Sasha," I muttered, letting my shoulders fall forward.

Sasha waved her hand in front of my face. I guessed that that meant to shut up, but I wasn't sure. "Hello, Espin. I'm here to ask you _again _if you want to be in my Twilight Sucks Ass Brigade. Please?" she asked, her voice sounding cold as ice. That was normal.

I shook my head. Don't get me wrong, I hated those dumb Twilight books, but I wasn't about to join a radical club and proclaim that fact off rooftops. No, I preferred to keep my hatred bottled up, thank you very much.

"No thanks, Sasha," I said with a shrug.

Sasha frowned. "Why not, Espin? What do you want me to do for you, huh? Give you desert for a year? Do your chores? Clean your room? _Sleep _with you?!" she asked incredulously, waving her arms around in the air. Her messy brown hair was wilder than usual, and her blue eyes were wide.

Oh my gods. What a lunatic. "No, Sasha. I'm good," I said with a sigh. "Although, if you _really _want to sleep with me, I won't stop you." I smiled wickedly at my clever remark. I was only half joking, too. Sure, it would be hard to find somewhere to, you know, _do it_, and Chiron would be furious, but…

Sasha rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. I wouldn't sleep with you even if… if…" she trailed off, obviously thinking hard for something clever to say, "I just wouldn't, okay?!"

I shrugged, smiling. "Sure, Sasha. I'll believe you when I grow wings and learn to sword fight." Both would never happen.

Sasha let out an angry huff, turning on her heel and storming off.

Well. That had gone nicely, now hadn't it?

Now that that little event was over, I once again had nothing to do. Smashing.

I could always just go to the Big House and watch movies on my stolen television. That was always fun.

What's this? How did I steal a television, you ask? Well, the answer is simple, my dim witted friend. I simply ventured into the attic, found a small dusty old television, hauled it down the rickety stairs carefully, cleaned it up, and inserted it into my room.

Yes. Simple, indeed.

I had made up my mind. So, I set off, determined to arrive at the Big House unharmed and watch stolen television. This was my goal. I would stop for nobody. Nothing could deter me from my ultimate desire to watch that damn TV in my room.

I almost made it, too.

**A/N: Cliffffff Hangerrrrr.**

**Ohohoho. I'm so evil, I love it.**

**Well, kiddies, here's chapter two. Sorry it took so long. After the fifth book came out, my previous plot was invalid. Damn fifth book. I didn't even like it that much. It was soooo cliché, I swear. The ending?! OMFG. I was like, "WUT EEZ THIS SHITE?! BETCHESSSS!!!" – insert snarling sounds here –**

**Yup. That's what I thought. And the Dream Team (Percy, Annabeth, and Grover) was sooooo lame. Srsly. I liked the side characters better. Michael Yew? CAN YOU SAY SMEXY? And Ethen Nakamura was hawt, as well. Katie G. was pretty rad, too.**

**AND OMG BECKENDORF, ILU.**

**Why'd he have to die? And why was Selena such a nub?**

**WHY, RICK, WHYYYY?**

**/endrant**

**-CB**

**By the way, Sasha is based off me, just so you know. Ah ha ha. That's probably why she'll only make a few appearances in this fic.**

**Annnndddd… I probably have no more fans because of my hatred for Twilight. :( How sad.**


	4. Chapter 3

**a warning: this chapter is pretty lame and kind of boring so sorry :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

Chapter 3

So, here I am in this position.

What is my position, you ask?

Well, it's simple.

I'm being confronted by a psychopath as to whether or not I'm prepared for the end of the world.

But, seeing as how you're not me, you could not possibly understand what I'm talking about. So, I am forced to start at the beginning.

* * *

So, there I was. Minding my own business and trying to get to the Big House as fast as I can, when all of a sudden, bam!, I ram into something.

Wait, correction. It's not just something. It's the chest of Oliver Grimm, the camp's very own psychopath.

"What the Hades?" I muttered, my voice muffled by Oliver's white Oxford shirt. Yes, Oxford shirt. You see, Oliver is this rich guy from Ireland, who also happens to be insane. He's always dressing like he's at the Ritz. Truth be told, I think that his mind is so damn twisted that he hallucinates that the Athena cabin is actually some five star hotel. No kidding, I swear over the river Styx.

Oliver grabbed me roughly by the shoulders and pushed me away. Did I mention that he's about six feet? I'm only five-six, lucky me. "Espin. The end of the world," Oliver started, his dark green eyes wild and his black hair sticking up in tufts, "is coming. I swear, Espin, I swear."

I stared at him, half expecting him to burst out laughing and yell, "Prank'd ya!" and half expecting camp to blow up right then and there. "Oliver, I don't think that that's going to happen, buddy," I said nervously, adding a little unsure laugh to add to the effect.

Oliver shook his head. "You're wrong. When we all die, I'll be laughing because I warned you and you paid no heed."

"But won't you be dead too?" I questioned.

Oliver ignored me, and went on. "Espin. Listen. I'm serious. What are you going to do when it happens? Are you prepared?" He stared at me, waiting and expecting an answer.

Oh my gods. Are all the people here at camp freaks? "Well," I said with a shrug, "for starters, I would lay a couple chicks. Then, I would pray to the gods to somehow reverse this terrible thing that you call 'the end of the world.'" I was trying really, really hard not to burst out laughing.

Oliver scoffed. "Fine. Be that way. I'll be the one who's laughing when you, and everyone else, for that matter, die," he said with a firm nod, turning on his heel and storming away from me.

Well, that was… fun? Horrid? Hilarious? Strange? Pick your adjective, people.

After I stood in my same position for about three minutes, I snapped back into reality. Movies on stolen television. Right. That was my mission, and I had to complete it.

Gods, I'm such a nerd.

"Espin. Television, remember?" I muttered to myself, beginning to march towards the Big House. I went fast, walking in a straight line. I was not going to let anyone or anything else stop me.

Unfortunately, I forgot about my own mind.

My thoughts slowly drifted away from the Big House and my television. They were headed towards one thing: Rikki. I honestly couldn't help but think about her. Cheesy, but I really didn't care.

She was just so… I don't' know, cute? Her cute short blonde hair that bounced on top of her cute head…

"Espin! The Big House," I scolded myself, slapping my own cheek with my hand. A couple campers snickered as I passed them, but I tried not to pay attention to them.

Of course, it was hard to ignore them when they started _following _me. What were these kids? Teenage stalkers? I thought old men were the only ones who stalked kids. I guess not.

But I wasn't going to turn around. No way. That would satisfy their teenage stalking needs. So, I kept my eyes glued to the ground in front of me.

I was so close to the Big House, I could see it. Just a few more yards, and I would be home free.

Almost there… A few more steps… Aw, shit.

Why the sudden swear?

Well, for starters, a thin, feminine arm had slinked around my waist. I looked at the girl, but didn't recognise her. A new camper, maybe?

But as the other teenagers formed a neat circle around me, I realized that I didn't recognize _any _of them. Now, I know that there had been a lot of new campers, but this many at once? No way in Styx.

"Why, hello there, Espin," the girl purred, her hand reaching up and caressing my cheek. My throat closed, and I looked at her. Light brown hair, hazel eyes, and plump red lips. Somebody, please kill me.

One of the guys piped up. "Juliet, hurry up. We're not here to play, idiot girl," he growled. I stared at him. He looked pretty strong, even though he really wasn't that tall. Now that I think about it, the girl was pretty short, too.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut up, Romeo," she snapped, waving a hand dismissively.

Hold the phone. Romeo and Juliet? Was this some kind of joke? Probably. Was Candit Camera out to get me?

"Um… Who are you all?" I asked, interrupting Romeo and Juliet, who had started bickering. Their eyes snapped to my face, and I felt like melting into a puddle of goo.

The girl smirked, and tightened her grip on my waist. I gulped. "Oh, Espin. You're even more delicious in person," she said with a giggle. In person? What the Hades was that suppose to mean?

Romeo rolled his eyes obnoxiously. "Oh, please, Juliet. Stop trying to swoon him. We're not here for romantic encounters, remember?" he said, clearly annoyed. "You're so incompetent."

Juliet's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me? What's that suppose to mean?" she asked, her arm tightening around my waist protectively. Damn, she was strong for such a small girl.

Romeo started to say something, when another boy cleared his throat loudly. Their eyes focused on him. "Please, you two. Do you not remember why we had to come to this idiotic place? It is certainly not for holiday," he said. His words were slightly hard to understand because of his thick German accent.

Well, this was different. The boy wore a crisp black suit and, get this, a _top hat_. The hat was old, and had cracked in some places. It sat slightly askew on the boy's lemon yellow hair.

"Sorry, Johann," Romeo muttered, his shoulders slumping forward. Juliet grumbled her apologies, as well.

Well. I had just learned something that might be important. This Johann guy obviously had control over all these other kids. Interesting.

But, then again, who were these kids? Some weird gang? Who knew?

"Now," Johann started, taking long, leisurely strides toward me, "could you perhaps tell me the location of the golden fleece?"

The golden fleece? Why would he need to know where that is?

"Well," I started, trying to push the fact that Juliet was nuzzling her face into my side out of my mind, "it's on Thalia's tree. But there's a monster guarding it, just so you know."

Johann nodded. "Oh, yes, I'm quite aware of this." He nodded curtly, signalling to the other kids to follow him. Juliet hesitantly let go of me.

"Don't forget me, Espin," she said with a wink. "We'll probably meet again really soon. I'll be waiting for you." With a giggle and a smirk, she bounded after Johann.

Well, that was weird.

I took several hesitating steps toward the Big House, closing the distance between the porch and myself.

As I reached for the door, I tried to push the strange teenagers out of my head. They probably were just new campers. Ya, that's it.

But… it couldn't hurt to ask Chiron about them, right?

"Chiron!" I shouted when I was inside. Then I spotted him by the fireplace, reading.

He looked up and smiled at me. "Yes, Espin? What is it?" He removed his reading glasses from his face, and stared at me expectantly.

I took a deep breath, before telling Chiron all about the strange kids. Chiron nodded the whole time, his face remaining expressionless.

When I finished, Chiron looked up at me. "Well. This isn't very good," he said finally. That was certainly encouraging.

"What do you mean?" I asked stupidly.

Chiron smiled. "Those teenagers weren't teenagers at all."

I think my heart stopped, but I nodded to show that I understood.

He smiled and continued. "They're a form of nymph, actually. A bit like the nymphs we have here… with one exception."

"What's the exception?" I asked, once again feeling stupid.

"Well… While the nymphs here are happy-go-lucky, the nymphs that you met are a bit more sinister."

"And that means…?"

Chiron smiled, although his face was starting to look a bit grim. "It means that they plot and scheme. It means, to put it frankly, that they're monsters."

Well, isn't that special.

I had told a group of monsters were one of the most powerful magical items in the world was located.

I rock.

"But it's not like they could steal it, right?" I asked uncertainly. "I-I mean, it's protected by that monster thing, right?"

Chiron smiled. "Espin, if there's one thing that I've learned in my many years as this camp's director, it's that you must never, ever put too much confidence in a finite being."

I nodded. "So… We better go stop them then, huh?" I said, not exactly sure _how _Chiron would stop them.

Chiron nodded. "Yes, that would be appropriate, although we're probably going to be too late." Again, Chiron, with the encouragement.

I hesitated. "So… what are we going to do?"

"Well," Chiron started, "we're going to get together several campers, and try to get to Thalia's tree in time. The guard should stall the nymphs for a bit."

I nodded, still feeling apprehensive and nervous. "Should I just wait here, then?" I asked. It was no secret between me and Chiron that I was terrible at fighting.

Chiron smiled. "That would probably be best, but if you want to tag along to watch, that's fine. But make up your mind quickly. We have to assemble the campers."

Way to put things bluntly, Chiron. "I'll tag along," I said.

From that choice, you can see that I really am an idiot. Later on, I would regret that one, small decision. You know how people say decisions could be life changing? Well, they're right.

**A/N: ONLY ONE EXAM LEFT TAKE THAT**

**sorry i haven't updated in forever. I've beeeeen a busssssy beeeee.**

**-CB**

**(psst, you! ya, you! see that green button over there? cliiiiiiiiick it)**


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